The present disclosure relates generally to fluids and methods for their use in subterranean treatment operations (e.g., hydrocarbon recovery operations).
Treatment fluids may be used in a variety of subterranean treatments. As used herein, the term “treatment,” or “treating,” refers to any subterranean operation that uses a fluid in conjunction with a desired function and/or for a desired purpose. The terms “treatment,” and “treating,” as used herein, do not necessarily imply any particular action by the fluid or any particular component thereof. One type of treatment used in the art to increase the conductivity of a subterranean formation is hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing operations generally involve pumping a treatment fluid (e.g., a fracturing fluid or a “pad fluid”) into a well bore that penetrates a subterranean formation at or above a sufficient hydraulic pressure to create or enhance one or more pathways, or “fractures,” in the subterranean formation. These fractures generally increase the permeability and/or conductivity of that portion of the formation. Other types of treatment include water flooding, acidizing, scale inhibition, corrosion inhibition, friction reduction, CO2 flooding, hydrate inhibition, paraffin inhibition, and foaming, among others. Such treatments may, among other things, be used to enable or enhance recovery of hydrocarbons or other target materials from the subterranean formation (e.g., in oil and/or gas wells).
In certain circumstances, the composition of a treatment fluid may be tailored based on variations in the properties of the subterranean formation where it is used (e.g., petrophysical properties such as the pore size, wettability, porosity and permeability of rock in the formation, temperature of the formation, and/or the composition of the rock and/or embedded fluids within the formation, including oil type (if oil is present), alkalinity and/or acidity of compounds in the formation, and the like. Obtaining data relating to these properties may lead to significant delays (e.g., hours or even days) in drilling operations before efficient treatment fluids may be chosen and used. In other instances, treatment fluids may be used without regard to some or all of the formation's properties, running the risk of sub-optimal recovery of hydrocarbon or other target material from a subterranean formation.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted and described and are defined by reference to exemplary embodiments, such references do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.